


Lovely Sad

by botanicalTJ



Category: The Outsiders - All Media Types
Genre: Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Boys In Love, Brotherly Love, Brothers, Canon-Typical Violence, Churches & Cathedrals, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Fluff, Drabbles, Dreams and Nightmares, During Canon, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Girls Kissing, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, M/M, Men Crying, Mild Blood, Nightmares, One Shot Collection, Snow, Trauma, Wakes & Funerals, Wordcount: 100, darbit, death of curtis parents, for some of them, mlm, wlw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:20:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 2,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27321850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/botanicalTJ/pseuds/botanicalTJ
Summary: "you comfort methe waysilence comforts the night.slowly fromthe darknessto its silver lining light."The Outsiders Comfortember, 2020
Relationships: Darrel Curtis & Two-Bit Mathews, Darrel Curtis/Two-Bit Mathews, Johnny Cade & Ponyboy Curtis, Marcia/Sylvia (The Outsiders), Ponyboy Curtis & Sodapop Curtis
Comments: 10
Kudos: 25
Collections: Comfortember 2020





	1. Timeline

_**1\. Rescue** _ **(Darry/Two-Bit)**

 _**2\. First Night**_ **(Darry/Two-Bit)**

 _**3\. Nightmare**_ **(Darry/Two-Bit)**

 _**4\. Anxiety**_ **(Ponyboy and Sodapop)**

 _**5\. Cuddling**_ **(Marcia/Sylvia)**

_**6\. Afraid to Sleep**_ **(Ponyboy and Johnny)**

_**7\. Blanket Fort** _

_**8\. Lashing Out** _

_**9\. Confession** _

_**10\. Crying** _

_**11\. PTSD** _

_**12\. Therapy/Emotional Support Pet** _

_**13\. Baking** _

_**14\. Road Trip** _

_**15\. Campfire** _

_**16\. Protective** _

_**17\. Flashbacks** _

_**18\. Hot Cocoa** _

_**19\. Memory Lane** _

_**20\. Movie Night** _

_**21\. Hugs** _

_**22\. Kisses (Romantic or Platonic)** _

_**23\. Exhaustion** _

_**24\. Panic Attacks** _

_**25\. Going Back to School/Work** _

_**26\. Junk Food** _

_**27\. Park** _

_**28\. Car Ride** _

_**29\. Make/Build/Create Something Beautiful** _

_**30\. Recovery**_


	2. Rescue

"Two-Bit?"

Darry's work boots thump heavy next to the ginger's head, cold white powder bouncing up onto his face. The snow wasn't there when he laid down. "Five more minutes..."

"You're on our porch." Strong hands slip under his armpits and haul him to his feet. Two-Bit falls back against him, blinking into fresh sobriety. "Does your mom know you're here?"

"Does yours?" The impersonal words leave his mouth without a thought. A look at Darry's face and he remembers. "Oh..."

Silence, a sigh, then he's granted entry indoors, to thaw out so Darry can go back into the cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one was a drabble but they might not all be. i hope you enjoyed it regardless :)


	3. First Night

Darry's head hurt. He'd been trying to fill out paperwork for hours now, but funeral preparations were so much more detailed than he'd ever been led to believe. The clock's hands had long since passed suppertime, but he'd been sitting at the table since late afternoon light was still streaming through the curtains. The windows were dark now and his ink pen hadn't touched the page in almost that long. He was tired, but there were responsibilities to carry now that he didn't have the day before. 

He was as close to dozing off without actually closing his eyes when the doorknob rattled. A surge of adrenaline struck him and he sat up straight in his seat, gaze aimed towards the front door. Before he could even get up from his chair, it creaked open with a gust of cold air and then Two-Bit was standing in his living room, looking around like he was lost. 

"Hey," Darry cleared his throat, finally rising to properly greet him even though it wasn't necessary to be so formal. This was his buddy he'd known since grade school, not another social worker or a neighbor coming by to wish their condolences. He'd had about enough of those for the day. 

"Oh... Darry." Two-Bit's head snapped in his direction, blinking owlishly at him. He stood awkward, frozen in one spot in the doorway to the kitchen. "Sorry. Didn't know the house would be empty."

"S'alright." Darry's arms twitched at his sides like they knew exactly how badly he wanted a hug. He kept them in place. "What are you doin' here?"

"Just... wanted to check in." Two-Bit took another step forward, the kitchen light casting onto his face to reveal the sadness in his expression. Even his cheeks were red, and Darry wondered if it was the cold or if he'd been crying. Maybe he was just drunk. It made his chest ache to remember how many folks were grieving his parents like they were _their_ parents too; it made the world feel so much smaller. 

Darry gave a nod, then let his eyes wander to the clock above the stove. Seeing the time made him all the more tired and he went back to the table to sit down, though it wasn't in him yet to pick up the pen again. "Nice of ya," he sighed in a way that sounded less appreciative than he meant it. He scrubbed a hand through his hair, staring down at the stack of papers until his eyes stung and the letters blurred. The kitchen was silent, and he wondered faintly if Two-Bit had just slipped back out the door, not wanting to deal with this any more than Darry did. He couldn't blame him if that was the case.

A hand fell on his shoulder, effectively making him jump. A drop slipped from his eye but he wiped it away in a discreet brush of his sleeve before it could go noticed. "Where's Sodapop and the kid?" Two-Bit asked him, squeezing his shoulder in that way buddies do when they feel something they don't want to say out loud. 

"They're, uh... my uncle, he came by this morning and took 'em for the night." Darry's voice sounded thick and he gave a quick cough to clear it. "He's in town for the week, for the, um..." His throat tightened around the word _funeral_ , trapping it in his vocal chords. "...y'know." 

"You want some company?" Two-Bit's hand fell from his shoulder and Darry wished he'd put it back. But the redhead left his side and took a seat across the table, far enough to give him room to breathe but close enough that he was _there_. "I could, uh, stay the night if you wanted. Don't got nothin' else goin' on."

"I..." Darry inhaled a breath, getting ready to make some excuse as to why he couldn't ask Two-Bit to do that, that he needed to finish up this paperwork and take care of whatever other chores needed to be done (the universe had failed to give him a checklist), but they dissolved on the tip of his tongue. There was no excuse, really, for him to force himself into deeper solitude, into private angst and tears he'd deny shedding if anyone ever asked. Not tonight, at least. "Yeah, Two-Bit," he exhaled, rubbing his eyes with his knuckles. He didn't have to look to see the smile that spread on the other's face "That sounds real nice."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading <3


	4. Nightmare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so sorry for the delay. i'll catch up soon, once election week allows me to :)
> 
> content warnings// description of being chased, blood mention, alcohol mention

When Two-Bit was a kid, his nightmares were the stuff of any child's imagination; monsters chasing after him, mean teachers sitting him in a dunce chair at the front of the class, getting lost in the supermarket with no one to help him. Occasionally, the dreams would center his father, storming out of the house again or shouting so loud the neighbors called to complain. Any time he'd wake from these dreams, his mother would be just a door down the hall, there to wipe tears off freckled cheeks and tuck him back into bed. 

He didn't have nightmares so often now, being a grown man with bigger fish to fry than his teachers not liking him or his estranged father returning into his life. But tonight, he'd been drinking right before bed and that always made him a little restless. On top of it, Darry had been working late nights and it threw their whole schedule off, only seeing his boyfriend first thing in the morning if he was lucky enough to wake up before noon. So he'd been sleeping fitfully, always tired the next day no matter how long he actually laid in bed. 

They were together tonight, and they'd gone to bed ages ago, but Two-Bit was drifting in that half place between asleep and awake. His dreams felt as real as Darry's arm hooked around his waist, mind drifting far from his body but grounded in all his full senses. And he was running, running through thick forests with dead-looking trees and razor-sharp branches that scraped through fabric to stain his clothes with blood. He couldn't see straight, couldn't run straight with an alcohol-clouded brain and the stench of booze all around him. Whatever chased him was loud, or maybe that was the blood roaring in his own ears as it rushed to leave his body. His mouth was glued shut, lips stuck together so he couldn't even breathe or scream or beg the thing to stop chasing him, _please_ stop chasing him—

The arm around his waist shifted to pull him backwards, against the warm, solid weight of Darry's chest. Darry was murmuring in his hair, quiet shushing noises and words that Two-Bit couldn't pick out from the ringing in his ears. His eyes cracked open, heart pounding like it was trying to break out of his chest, and he was met with the plain sight of Darry's bedroom wall. Adrenaline still shook his body and he realized he was sweating, but he was in Darry's bedroom, not the forest, not trapped inside his head, not alone.

He turned over and allowed himself to be held closer, to be soothed from a nightmare that he hadn't even realized he was having until he woke up from it. He didn't even know he was crying until Darry's hand wiped tears from his cheeks, but steadily, his heart began to slow down and the pillow of his boyfriend's chest was all he needed to breathe again. Two-Bit closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading <3


	5. Anxiety

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> content warnings// mentions of canonical violence

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Stop. 

_ Head in the fountain/blood on the switchblade/rats in the church/cold hard floor/dust in his lungs/baloney again/"put your cigarette out, johnny,"/firefirefirefirefirefirefirefire _

Soda's hand is on his shoulder and he stands in the open doorway. "You alright, Pony?" He's concerned, it's obvious on his face, but he's trying not to sound it.

"Yeah." Pony drops his unsmoked cigarette off the back porch, watching it burn out in the wet grass. Soda's hand on his shoulder makes his skin crawl for some reason but he leaves it alone. "I'm fine, Soda."

Exhale.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading <3


	6. Cuddling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> content warnings// none

"Marcia, get off'a me."

"Mmmph. No." Marcia hooked her arms tighter around Sylvia's shoulders, her face smushed indelicately into the girl's chest. Sylvia's lap was, in her opinion, the ideal place for a nap, and she intended to finish hers. 

"Baby girl, I've gotta start gettin' ready for work." Sylvia placed her hands on Marcia's hips and dropped a kiss atop her head. Marcia turned to look at the clock on her bedside table, nose wrinkling when she realized Sylvia was right. 

"Guess I can't argue with that one," she sighed, letting her arms fall from Sylvia's shoulders. She sat up and met her girlfriend's eyes, and a smile crossed her lips for all the butterflies that still stirred in her stomach when they were this close together. "You're such a doll," she murmured, running her fingers through a piece of Sylvia's blonde-highlighted hair. "Wish you didn't have to work tonight."

"You could come see me at the drive-in." Sylvia leaned in for a proper kiss, leaving a smudge of pink gloss on Marcia's lips. "I'll skate right out to ya. Milkshakes on the house if you don't tell my boss."

"My father wants me home for supper tonight." Marcia's lips turned down in a near-pout. She sure would've liked to drive over and see Sylvia as a carhop, looking nice as ever in her pretty white skirt and sparkly red top. It sounded much better than dinner with her stoic father and rambunctious little brother. 

"Well..." Sylvia looked slightly disappointed, but she didn't push it further. She glanced at the clock, then pressed one more kiss to Marcia's forehead. "I've really gotta get goin'," she said softly, a hand cradling the girl's face. "Lemme up?"

With a dejected sigh, Marcia finally backed out of Sylvia's lap, allowing her to stand up from the bed. She followed, stretching her arms over her head. It was getting time for her to start supper anyhow. "Think about me when you're tyin' up those skates, would ya?" she smiled, catching Sylvia in another embrace. She stood on her toes for a kiss, arms loose around her waist. 

"'Course I will." Sylvia didn't try to tug away from her this time; she smiled into the kiss and leaned their foreheads together, effectively getting Marcia lost in how gold her eyes looked in the stream of sunlight from the window. "You're my girl."

"Your girl," Marcia repeated, reaching up to hold Sylvia's face with all the care of handling glass. She stole another kiss, then took another step backwards. "I'll think'a you when I'm goin' to bed tonight, and all the time before that, too."

"Love you, Marshie." Sylvia tied her hair up with the band around her wrist, letting wisps of it fall loose next to her face.

"Love you, too, sweetheart." Marcia sat back down on her bed to watch Sylvia walk through the door, leaving it ajar behind her. Even when she disappeared down the hall, Marcia sat in silence, wishing they were still wrapped up in each other's limbs, relaxed and happy on top of the covers.

Her hand went to smooth her purple bedspread, only to brush across Sylvia's pink tube of lip gloss. Marcia's fingers wrapped around it, and for a moment, she considered running to return it... but instead, she slipped into her pocket to keep safe for now, until Sylvia could walk back through her bedroom door. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading <3


	7. Afraid to Sleep

"Johnny..."

Ponyboy's heart was racing, loud in his ears as the wind shrieking through the trees outside. He could feel it brushing against his cheeks, slipping through the cracks in the old windows. Dally's jacket was warm but it didn't keep the sound out, even when he pulled it up over his head. He knew in the back of his mind that the scraping sound against the glass was just a branch, maybe more than one, but the shadows darting around the old church were deceptive. 

"Johnny." Ponyboy rolled over to squint at his unmoving friend's back. They lay close together, but in the darkness, it felt like miles away. He shuffled closer and shook Johnny's shoulder. "You awake?"

"Go t' sleep, Pony," came the mumble in return, the sound dampened by denim sleeves. Johnny buried his head further into the crook of his elbow, not even bothering to open his eyes. "Told you there's nothin' out there."

Pony was silent, then he shifted even closer and laid down so his forehead rested against Johnny's back. The denim jacket's material was stiff and cold against his skin, and he wondered how it could possibly be keeping the other boy warm. Carefully, so it didn't fall from his own frame, he draped half of Dally's jacket across Johnny's body, hoping it would be enough. 

He sighed and closed his eyes again, then drifted off for another night on the cold floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading <3

**Author's Note:**

> hello!
> 
> i've decided last minute that i'll be doing Comfortember for The Outsiders! if there's anything you would like to request for any of the prompts, please let me know!
> 
> tags are subject to change! hope you enjoy :)


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